At that point, I was still blissfully unaware of how I was about to have one of the worst nights of my life. After getting fired from my latest acting gig and replaced with a mannequin - which cost more money to make than the amount I was supposed to get paid with - I didn't think that things could get any worse, but oh boy, was I wrong.
'' I can't believe that I have to carry my own assistant home! '' Oh Sehun had to make five different stops to catch his breath before he finally managed to carry me up to the second floor of my apartment building. His dark hair was sticking to his sweaty forehead, his cheeks were reddened from exhaustion and he practically threw me off his back when he finally reached my doorstep. I stumbled for a few steps and tried to drunkenly regain my balance, while he leaned with his hands against his knees and started wheezing. His black shirt was sticking to his skin, which seemed to glow in the moonlight of the warm summer night and he looked like he was about to pass out. And angry. Above all, he looked angry.
I couldn't blame the actor for being mad. A coffee girl that he once had a fling with, called him in the middle of the night, while he was out partying with his friends and having fun. Not to mention - it also happened on the same day that I messed up his drink order: a Trenta green tea matcha latte, with whipped cream instead of foam, three pumps of syrup and an extra shot five shots of espresso.
'' You should be the one carrying me, not the other way around! How do my stunt doubles do these type of things? ''
'' I'm not your assistant! '' I protested and the loud volume of my words made him flinch with surprise before I suddenly put my hands on his cheeks, pushed his face together and forced him to look into my eyes. It was safe to say that I left all of my shame somewhere at the bottom of my fifth soju bomb. Not that I had that much of it to begin with. '' Stop calling me that! I'm your girlfriend! Repeat after me! Girlfriend! G-I-R-L-R... ''
I paused in the middle of my sentence, frowned and tried to correct my mistake. Somehow, I managed to confuse myself when I was trying to spell the word out to him.
Why did I even try to go down that path? I barely convinced my high school teachers to let me graduate! I know that I'm not smart and Sehun definitely already knows that too, so who am I trying to fool?
I was going to distract Sehun with a kiss, but he put his hand against my face before my lips could touch his and pushed me away from him. He seemed a little nervous when he said: '' Yeah, about that... I'm getting back together with my real girlfriend. ''
'' What? '' My voice was muffled because of the hand that he was still pushing against my face.
'' Is it really a breakup if we never made it official in the first place? '' he tried to joke around and make the situation a little more lighthearted, but that couldn't stop my heart from breaking. I raised my head and he sighed when he noticed the tears in my eyes. His hand gently caressed my head and he softly whispered: '' You're cute, but you have no clue how real life works, Olin. ''
Whatever, I don't need him, I thought to myself after he left and stepped forward into my apartment. Once I heard the door close behind me and I was all alone, tears began falling down my cheeks. I covered my mouth with my hand, but I couldn't hold back the quiet sobs that began rising out of my throat. I dropped my bag, leaned back against my front door and slowly slid down to the ground. My shoulders were shaking and I started crying even louder after I hugged my legs and rested my forehead on my knees.
I was the one who got involved with Sehun just because I thought that his popularity would help me boost my own nonexistent career. I knew about his long and rocky relationship with another famous actress, but I still allowed myself to grow attached to him. People warned me that I would be forgotten as soon as they would get back together for what was probably the millionth time and they were right. I thought that I knew what I was doing, but instead, I fell in love, while to him - I was nothing more than a rebound.
My eyes grew wide when I suddenly heard the sound of knocking and I instantly forgot about my inner monologue.
'' He came back to his senses! '' I rose from the ground, turned around and opened the front door, smiling victoriously while I exclaimed: '' I knew you'd come crawling back- ''
I stopped in the middle of my sentence when I saw the person that was standing in front of me. I thought that Sehun changed his mind and came back but instead, I found myself face to face with someone completely different. My mouth was opened in shock, I was dumbfounded and it took me a few moments to compose myself, rapidly wipe my tear-stained cheeks and seriously mumble: '' Oh. It's you. ''
Leaning against the doorway, was no one else than my twin brother Mark Lee. His dark hair was swept back from his forehead, his eyes kept darting left and right and he was panting, almost like just ran from somewhere. A small smile curved his lips before his gaze met mine and he lowly replied: '' Wow, what a greeting. Very welcoming. It's been three years, sis. I know that we didn't part ways on best terms, but I was expecting to hear at least a moderately excited 'O-M-G Mork'. ''
'' O-M-G- ''
'' Forget it, '' he cut me off, rolled his eyes, shoved me out of the way and stumbled inside my apartment. Once he passed me, I caught the strong scent of iron, radiating from his blood-stained clothing. '' It doesn't feel the same way now. ''
I closed the door after him and watched him make his way across the living room and towards the kitchen. The effects of the alcohol that I drank earlier were beginning to wear off and I could feel myself beginning to get worried. I noticed how he stumbled for a few steps, almost like he was about to lose his conscience, before he quickly held on to a piece of furniture. '' Why did you come here instead of a hospital? I don't even own a first aid kit and you look like you need way more than just that. How do you even know where I live? ''
'' You think that I don't keep tabs on my sister? ''
'' You think that I won't report you for stalking just because you're my bro? '' I shot back in response, crossed my arms on my chest and frowned in irritation. He was purposely dodging my questions about what happened to him and how he ended up in that state.
'' Stalking wouldn't be necessary if you wouldn't keep ignoring my phone calls. ''
I cringed at the sound of his words, scratched the back of my head and nervously admitted: '' I wasn't ignoring your calls. My phone company canceled my plan because I didn't pay them for three months. They probably already gave my number to someone else. ''
'' That explains a lot. I thought that you were pulling a prank on me the first time that I called you. Someone answered the phone and tried to sell me a new microwave. I didn't think that it was real, so I played along and imagine my surprise when it actually got delivered to my house. I've got two microwaves now, but I use one only for special occasions. '' Mark opened my fridge and peeked inside. His features immediately twisted in disgust and he loudly exclaimed: '' I can't believe that your fridge only has a cup of yogurt and half an apple... Wait, I think that your yogurt is moving and trying to run away. I can't tell if it's because of your annoying personality or because it's been sitting in here for God knows how long... What do you even do when you have guests over? Offer them a hot Cheeto off the floor? ''
Bold of him to assume that I ever have guests over.
'' If you have a problem with my yogurt, you can knock on my neighbor's door instead. I'm sure that he'd love to hear you complain about the severed heads that he keeps in his fridge. Don't tell him that I said that though. He already thinks that I have something against him... It's true that I reported him to the police three times already, but I'm sure that one of these days, they'll get him before he'll hide all the evidence of his past crimes, '' I hissed in response and closed my fridge with a loud slam. The strong impact made the handle on the door fall off and land on the ground. My eyes grew wide with horror, while Mark burst into laughter and turned around. He passed the window and glanced outside, his eyes narrowing and becoming a little more serious when he inspected the street, then he made his way back to the living room and collapsed on the couch.
I resisted the urge to kick the broken fridge door handle and followed my brother instead. He was leaving a trail of blood wherever he went and when he sat under the faint light that glowed on the ceiling above my living room, I finally noticed that it wasn't just his clothing - his arms were also completely smeared in red. My eyes slightly widened at the sight and my chest started feeling heavy when I knelt down in front of him and grabbed the object that I saw sticking from behind his belt. '' What the heck? Who thought that it'd be a good idea to give you a gun? Mark, stop trying to distract me and tell me what is going on! What happened to you? Why do you have a gun? Are you in trouble? ''
'' I just need a place to hide for a day or two, '' he seriously mumbled and opened his eyes again. His face remained serious when he looked at the shiny weapon that I was holding in my trembling hand. I dropped it on the ground once I noticed that I got blood on my skin and quickly wiped my fingers in my pants. '' I'll be out of your way in two days. That's when I start my new job. I can't miss it or my boss will kill me. Literally. ''
'' Where do you work? '' I quietly asked, still eyeing the shiny weapon on the ground. My small acting roles were often in horror movies and crime dramas, so it wasn't the first time that I saw a gun, but I was still shocked. It felt different to hold one when I wasn't on set. '' I'll fill in for you. ''
'' You can't. ''
'' Stop being difficult and tell me. I'm the older twin, so I get to make the rules. ''
'' It's not that simple, Ohseong. ''
That was how I learned about my twin's debt and his deal with the mafia family from Gampo, our old neighborhood. I had no idea what he was doing after he left home, but I imagined him working odd jobs on different parts of Seoul. I didn't even think that he could've gone down a dark path and gotten himself in trouble. If I did, I would've tried to find him long before he showed up on my doorstep all on his own, even if I wasn't doing that well in life either.
'' That doesn't change anything. I'm still going to help you. ''
He lowered his head and quietly murmured: '' Why would you? ''
I rolled my eyes, as if the answer to that question was obvious and angrily replied: '' You're my brother, I don't need a reason to help you. ''
He stared at me with a mixture of surprise and amusement. '' You're still the same as you used to be, Ohseong. ''
My cheeks slightly reddened in embarrassment and I angrily slapped his shoulder. I felt a little bad when I saw him wince in pain, but I still snapped in response: '' Stop calling me Ohseong. I go by Olin now. It's my stage name. ''
'' You couldn't think of anything less stupid than that? '' Mark lowly asked and raised his eyebrows. His lips curved into a small teasing smirk. '' You spent half of your childhood calling me Mork, Marker and Watermelon and then you went and named yourself Olin? I can't believe that you're still trying to act anyway. How's that going for you? Have you appeared in any popular dramas or movies? ''
Mark was always against my dream of becoming a famous actress. He thought that I was doing it just because of our mother and after her death, not a day passed that we didn't argue about it. He never mentioned it out loud, but I knew that he felt guilty and he didn't want me to suffer like he did. He was there when that building collapsed and he wished that it was her that the rescuers pulled out of the rubble and not him.
'' Some of my best roles were murdered girl number four, pathetic step sister and the zombie in Train to Busan that got killed with a baseball bat. '' I stroked my chin in thought and smiled to myself. '' Gotta say, I'm pretty proud of the last one... Mark? Why aren't you answering? Marker? Shit. ''
I didn't notice when Mark closed his eyes, but no matter how much I tried calling him, I couldn't get him to come back to his senses. His head was leaning back over the edge of the couch and when I poked his cheek, his hand slowly slipped off his stomach, revealing what seemed like a gunshot wound. There was too much blood to really tell. The strong smell was making my head spin but I was trying to ignore it until Mark passed out. A small part of me hoped that perhaps the blood wasn't his, but it looked like I was wrong.
'' C-Can I get an ambulance? '' I nervously stuttered in my phone and ran through my short hair with my hand. I was frantically pacing up and down my apartment, taking deep breaths and trying to keep myself together. '' I think that my brother got shot. I'm not sure, but there's a lot of blood. Like a lot. Have you seen that new horror movie with the psychopathic serial killer? It's really popular right now. My apartment kind of looks like the killer's bedroom. Just to give you an idea of how bad it is- ''
Instead of keeping myself calm, I managed to make the emergency dispatcher nervous too. It was one of her first days on the job and soon, we were both freaking out and screaming at each other over the phone, while I was waiting for the ambulance to arrive. '' Is your brother still bleeding? ''
I stopped screaming for a moment and sarcastically mumbled: '' No, miss Solar. The gunshot wound magically healed itself. ''
'' Why didn't you call for help right away?! It's your fault if he bleeds to death now! ''
'' I don't know! '' I snapped in response and grabbed my head in panic. '' I got distracted! My brother and I... We were having a moment, okay? Stop judging me! ''
I meant it when I said that I was going to help Mark with his new job. I had yet to realise the full extent of my promise or understand how and why my brother ended up with a bullet lodged in his chest, but I wasn't going to turn my back to him. Our mother taught us that a family had to always stand together, no matter what happened or how tough things got.
Three years passed since Mark and I walked away from each other, but our bond stretched out instead of breaking. Now our lives collided again, like an elastic, snapping back in its place. I was tired of always trying to save my acting dream from going down the drain. There were things that I didn't want to confront alone and I hoped that Mark's appearance would bring a new ray of light in my life.
I had no idea what the future would bring, but even if I would - nothing could prepare me for the chance encounter with a special person, who later changed me and my life forever.